Great Lives: Gil Scott-Heron - today (Tuesday), Radio 4

In the wake of Brian Jackson's recent appearance at Hoochie Coochie, today there is the timely broadcast of an edition of Great Lives whose subject is Gil Scott-Heron. Garden designer Joe Swift makes the case for Gil Scott-Heron having led a great life. Question: How many of those at Jackson's gig on Pilgrim Street were also at Scott-Heron's gig at the old Riverside on Melbourne Street in Newcastle? Great Lives, BBC Radio 4 (4:30pm). Russell    

Munch Manship Quartet @ the Railway, Stockport - May 1

(© Jeff Pritchard)

Munch Manship (tenor sax); Richard Weatherall (piano); Grant Russell (bass); Eryl Roberts (drums).

This was another well attended Sunday evening of modern jazz at the Railway and Munch started the show with the standard East of the Sun making me think of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims who liked to feature this tune during their performances. He followed this with a medium tempo workout on the Tadd Dameron classic Good Bait which had a piano solo from Richard Weatherall that impressed me a lot. Richard always gets a great sound on the house piano and he never fails to deliver the goods.

Album review: Fergus McCreadie - Forest Floor

Fergus McCreadie (piano); David Bowden (double bass);  Stephen Henderson (drums)

Those of us who saw this trio play at the Lit & Phil last year as part of the Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music have a problem with Fergus McCreadie. That too short set was jaw on the floor outstanding and anything that comes after cannot hope to compete. The concert was not too long after the news broke that Keith Jarrett had had to retire from playing and those of us inclined towards excess and hyperbole started to wonder if the seat at the top table could be filled by McCreadie himself. Surely not, we wondered. Although …

Sunday Night @ the Globe: The House of the Black Gardenia - May 1

Elise Rana (vocals, washboard); Pete Tanton (trumpet); David Gray (trombone); Keith Robinson (tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet); Katja Roberts (violin); Elliott Rush (piano); Michael Littlefield (guitar, banjo, vocals); Neil Hopper (bass, sousaphone); Kit Haigh (drums).

For the second evening in a row the Globe was crowded. Two different bands from opposite ends of the jazz universe entertained, and I use the word advisedly, highly appreciative audiences.

Vocals by Rana and Littlefield and explosive solos from the horns helped create a speakeasy atmosphere enhanced by the swing dancers who were lindy hopping and reacting in motion to the sounds and rhythms coming from the nine piece band on stage.

R.I.P Terry Dalton

Terry Dalton was born in Throckley, the 3rd son of Herbie Dalton, a window cleaner and drummer who ran a dance band around the north east. Herbie made sure that all of his family learned to play an instrument.  Ronnie (piano); Wilf (sax); Doreen (bass); Terry (trombone) and Derek (trumpet) - they were all employed in their dad's band once they had acquired the required skills. 

Later they became known as The Dalton Dixielanders although most people just simply referred to them as The Daltons.

Porter & co at Cheltenham: Radio 2 broadcast this evening (Sunday 1)

As one of BSH's scribes is en-route to the 25th Cheltenham Jazz Festival it seems like an opportune time to flag up this evening's broadcast of last Thursday's concert featuring Gregory Porter, Georgia Cecile, Joe Stilgoe and many others, all backed by the Guy Barker Big Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Tune to Radio 2 at seven o'clock for a jazz-infused edition of Sunday Night is Music Night. Russell     

Darlington Jazz Festival: Matt Roberts Quintet + Calvert & the Old Fools @ Number One Bar - April 30

Matt Roberts Quintet: Matt Roberts (trumpet); Jim Corry (tenor sax); Martin Longhawn (piano); Myra Brownbridge (double bass); Sam Gardner (drums) 

An International Jazz Day special to close this year's Darlington Jazz Festival. And no better way to do just that than with the return of local lad Matt Roberts. Based in London, year after year, trumpeter Roberts makes a point of supporting his home town festival. What's more, the genial Roberts always brings with him an all-star line-up, and this 2022 edition of the town centre festival would hear yet another superb band. Previous editions of the weekend festival have presented Roberts playing the music of some of his trumpet heroes - Lee Morgan, Fats Navarro and others. This afternoon's concert in Number One Bar presented the music of Miles Davis.      

Darlington Jazz Festival: Durham Alumni Big Band + Durham Music Service Big Band @ Central Hall - April 29

It was three years ago (2019) when the Durham Alumni Big Band last featured at a Darlington Jazz Festival. The pandemic-enforced cancellation of the event two years running seemed to galvanise the 2022 audience, turning out in good number, determined to enjoy an evening of big band jazz. As the Alumni took to the stage, scanning the sections, it appeared almost all of the regular faces were occupying their usual chairs. The first half of the evening's concert would feature the band's intended pre-pandemic salute to VE Day 75. The second set would broaden the repertoire.

The Arun Ghosh Quartet @ the Globe - April 30

(© Ken Drew)

Arun Gosh (clarinet); Kapil Seshasayee (guitar); Gavin Barras (bass guitar); Dave Walsh (drums)

International Jazz Day! New Orleans' style brass bands would be parading along Pilgrim St. the  pubs would be full of swing dancers and there would be sax players busking on every corner of Tyneside's first city. Well, er, it didn't exactly quite work out like that. It was raining and NUFC were losing a game of football. 

However, all was not lost. The Jazz Coop, Jazz North East and Gem Arts combined to put on a day that commemorated, not only IJD but, also, the eighth anniversary of the Coop's formation.

Such an occasion deserved something special and boy did they deliver something special!

Tommy's Trumpets

Back in the day there were two Tommy Hendersons. Henderson the double bassist is still with us but Henderson the trumpet player passed away in the late 1970s. In the early days of BSH both Hendersons were the subject of a 2009 post and reference was made to the fate of the latter's instruments.

Now, all these years later, whilst doing some research, Gary Haley came upon the original post prompting him to send me some further information and a photo of Tommy's flugelhorn. Lance